Second case against Lord Cardigan fails and he vows to clear snares from Savernake Forest

A second case alleging harassment by the Earl of Cardigan has failed.  It was brought by the Wiltshire Crown Prosecution Service after a complaint to police by a gamekeeper who worked for the Savernake Estate.

The case was being heard by magistrates at Chippenham.  It was due to run for two days but after hearing the prosecution case, the magistrate agreed with Lord Cardigan’s barrister, Mr Edward Henry, that there was no case to answer and Lord Cardigan was acquitted.

Gamekeeper Peter Tilley was employed by John Moore – who was removed as a Trustee of the Savernake Estate during a case at the High Court in London that ended last October.  Mr Tilley had alleged that Lord Cardigan had caused him distress by putting up numerous notices warning people about the snares the gamekeeper had laid in Savernake Forest.

Following the failure of the case (on Monday, July 20), Lord Cardigan has vowed to clear the 4,500 acre Forest – the only privately owned forest in Britain – of snares. His own English Pointer, Lucy, was snared and scarred for life in the Forest.

The National Anti-Snaring Campaign went to the hearing to give evidence about the snares Mr Tilley had used.  Afterwards Lord Cardigan said: “The National Anti-Snaring Campaign work to expose the cruel and indiscriminate use of snares by some gamekeepers, and I applaud their efforts.”

“With the collapse of the latest absurd Police case against me for warning local dog-walkers about these snares in which I have often seen dead badgers, I will re-double my efforts to ensure the gamekeeper, Mr Tilley, takes his snares away from Savernake Forest.  Every time I find one I will remove it from where it poses a hidden hazard to local dogs and small children enjoying the Forest.”

Mr Tilley told the court that “Dogs should not be running off their leads anyway.”  In response, after the magistrate had found there was no case to answer, Lord Cardigan stated:  “Local people have been welcome to walk all over the Forest for over a century.  While they are doing that, I now vow to work to ensure that they (and their dogs) can in future do that in safety”.

Lord Cardigan said he had been particularly appalled to hear that local fundraisers for Cancer Research UK had been forced to cancel their Sponsored Dog-Walk in Savernake Forest because of well-founded fears that participating dogs might be snared.”  Lord Cardigan’s first wife died from cancer.

Last week another in the series of sixteen charges brought against Lord Cardigan failed.  That case of harassment was brought by Mr Moore over multiple phone calls Lord Cardigan made in his efforts to get the shower mended in his home on the Savernake Estate.